Mayors of Palo Alto, Madison, Wis., make friendly wager over Rose Bowl game

By Jason Green

Daily News Staff Writer

Posted:
12/27/2012 08:21:21 AM PST

Updated:
12/27/2012 08:33:10 AM PST

Count the mayors of Palo Alto and Madison, Wis., among the masses who have been swept up by Rose Bowl fever.

Madison's Paul Soglin is convinced his Wisconsin Badgers will best the Stanford Cardinal when the two college football teams meet in the "granddaddy" of all bowl games on New Year's Day in Pasadena.

That's just wishful thinking as far as Palo Alto's Yiaway Yeh is concerned.

Each mayor believes in his respective team enough to put pride on the line. A wager accepted by both mayors this week will see the loser don the opposing team's hat at a city council meeting and display the victor's flag for a day in January.

In addition, the losing city will have to organize a tree planting in honor of the winning team.

"Any city can benefit from additional trees, and we're delighted that Mayor Yeh and the City of Palo Alto are going to provide them," Soglin boldly proclaimed in a statement Wednesday.

Yeh's rejoinder?

"I'm hoping Mayor Soglin's staff is making sure he practices his shoveling for the Palo Alto-dedicated tree that'll find a nice home in Madison," Yeh told The Daily News in an email interview.

Soglin's office proposed a wager, said Yeh, who in turn crafted the terms with help from Economic Development Manager Thomas Fehrenbach. The terms were accepted just before the start of the holiday week.

The last time Stanford played in a Rose Bowl was 2000. Coincidentally, the opponent was Wisconsin, and the Cardinal lost 17-9.

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"I'm sure on top of the excitement we all have in Palo Alto for our Stanford Cardinal team, this rematch will be a motivating factor on New Year's Day for Stanford," Yeh said.

Yeh arguably has more to lose. His next city council meeting, Jan. 7, will be his last. New council members will join the dais and outgoing members will be recognized for their service.

"This isn't going to happen," Yeh said, "but any wager I make, I'll live with the consequences, but more likely, I'm sure that a hat will help keep Mayor Soglin warm in the cold winter of Madison."

In the end, with a tree planting part of the wager, Soglin noted that the losing side will still win.

"I think it's great that we can have fun with the game and provide a benefit to a community," Soglin said, "and I'm confident (head coach) Barry (Alvarez) and the Badgers will come through for us."